Business and Journalism & Media Cultures BA (Hons)

About the course

Business

You don’t need any prior knowledge of business studies before choosing this subject. You will gain a broad introduction to the subject in your first year. If you choose to continue business as a joint subject or increase to major in business you will have access to a range of optional modules allowing you to tailor your studies to your own personal interests.

Your studies in business will prepare you for work in a range of organisations and you will have the opportunity to further prepare for the workplace by taking a one year paid work placement in between your second and final year. 

Journalism & Media Cultures

You will gain a wide range of journalistic skills and hands-on experience as part of this course. You’ll learn to write in a variety of styles and for different audiences as well as gaining a working knowledge of how communication works and the nature of the British media. Some students may even have the opportunity to get some of their work published.

In your first year you will study Journalism and Media Cultures equally, you can choose to drop one in your second year and take the other forward as a minor field. Maintaining both throughout your degree will allow you to major in Journalism and Media cultures in your final year (there is currently no major option in second year). 

Why choose this course?

Business

• Gain a firm understanding of the role of business in society
• Develop your knowledge in key areas of business such as Finance, Human Resources Management and Marketing
• Challenge yourself intellectually while gaining key practical and interpersonal skills that prepare you for the workplace.

Journalism and Media Cultures

• Develop your understanding of printed media including how to write news stories, features and conduct an interview
• Understand the complex relationships between media and the society we live in.
• Explore the legal and ethical issues faced by the media and examine the dilemmas journalists may face

Study routes

• Sandwich, 4 Years
• Part Time, 6 Years

Locations

• University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

Careers

This programme gives you flexibility in your studies at university resulting in flexibility in your choice of career at the end of your course. You will acquire a much broader base of knowledge and experience that could really widen your employment opportunities. Graduates have found employment in diverse roles such as computer programmers, design engineers, management development specialists, accountants and project managers. Over 72% of our graduates had entered employment six months after graduation, and a further 17% had gone on to further study or training.

Teaching methods

You'll experience a wide variety of learning styles on this course. During your studies you'll develop your capacity for self-directed study and your interpersonal skills. We particularly emphasise the importance of structured research; well-prepared written and verbal presentations; and computer literacy. Alongside elements of standard lectures, seminars, tutorials and laboratories, you also learn through case studies, individual and group projects and other student centred activities. In your final year you will normally have the opportunity to practice your independent study skills by completing a Major project or dissertation.

You will develop your capacity for independent study and interpersonal skills on this programme. There is an emphasis on structured research, well-prepared written and verbal presentations and computer literacy.

You will experience a wide variety of teaching styles on the programme including:

• standard lectures
• seminars
• tutorials
• laboratories
• case studies
• individual and group projects

In your final year you will normally have the opportunity to hone your independent study and interpersonal skills by undertaking a major project or dissertation.

Work Placement

You will have the opportunity to take a paid work placement or study abroad for a year between your second and final years, extending your degree from a three year to a four year qualification. You will not be required to pay tuition fees for this year and you will gain excellent experience that sets you apart from the crowd in the graduate jobs market.

Study Abroad

You can study in most European countries, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, Russia, China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Australia. You will study a programme of taught modules and/or project work with one of our partner universities, which will complement your studies on the Joint Honours Programme. You may need to study the language of your chosen country in your first and second years. Depending on where you choose to study you may be eligible to apply for certain grants, scholarships and financial support to help finance your study abroad experience.

Work Placement

A work placement provides you with an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience and put your theoretical knowledge and understanding from your studies in to practice.

Our Careers and Placements service will help you to develop your CV and support you through the application process for a wide range of placement opportunities in a variety of sectors and organisations.

Structure

Year 1

Core Modules

• Accounting for Business

  The module provides an introduction to accounting from the manager's viewpoint. Areas covered include the collection and reporting of accounting information to both internal and external users, as well as the use and interpretation of publicly available accounting information. The role of accounting in supporting the management functions of planning, control, and decision-making is also covered. Indicative topics include: - preparation and presentation of a simple income statement and balance sheet, including the need for adjustments such as depreciation, accruals, prepayments and bad debts; - the difference between profit and cash; - interpretation of an income statement and a balance sheet using ratio analysis; - costing: cost behaviour; marginal costing - methods and uses; absorption costing - methods and uses; - budgeting: nature and purpose of budgeting; its contribution to planning, control and motivation in an organisation; preparation of simple budgets.

• Principles of Marketing B

  This initial marketing module, which assumes no prior knowledge of marketing, aims to introduce students to some of the key ideas of marketing and is suitable for both marketing and non-marketing students. It examines the environment within which organisations operate and the role of marketing within the organisation so that students can understand the context within which marketing personnel work, and the different activities which are carried out under the umbrella term of 'marketing'. Concepts central to an understanding of marketing are considered - segmentation; targeting and positioning; the product life cycle; the 4Ps; buyer behaviour, etc.

• Global Perspectives in Business

  Internationalisation of business is creating a substantial increase in intercultural contact, which is reflected in the skills set of managers operating in a globalised world. Managers need to develop sensitivity to and a critical understanding of issues arising out of cultural difference, and be equipped to manage and operate in diversity. The module will explore themes of: a) concepts of culture, b) cultural differences and c) globalisation. It will also explore related ideas such as ethnocentrism and prejudice. It will look at and draw upon the work of leading theorists, such as Hofstede and Trompenaars, in the analysis of cultural difference. It will look at cross-cultural differences in communication and negotiation style. The workshop element of the module will consider the practical consequences of cultural difference for corporations and sojourners. Types of international corporate culture will be examined, including expatriate staffing policies. The nature of culture shock will be explored.

• Quantitative Methods for Business (UJH)

  This module introduces the student to a number of essential mathematical and statistical techniques that are extensively used in business and management. Particular attention will be paid to the circumstances in which the methods considered should be employed. The following quantitative methods are likely to be included in this module: equations and graphs; measures of location and dispersion; weighted averages and indices; probability and normal distribution; basic optimisation; critical path analysis; correlation and simple linear regression; time series forecasting; investment; simulation. Appropriate software (eg Excel) will be used to support learning.

• Journalism Skills: Print News and Features

  Workshops designed to simulate a newsroom environment will encourage students to explore newsgathering, news writing, feature writing and interviewing. The module will introduce students to a diverse range of publications including broadsheets, tabloids and magazines. Students will critically assess the material and identify the different styles and approaches taken to news articles and features. The fundamentals of practical journalism will be explored, including using English effectively and developing editing and proofreading skills. Skills taught will include: sourcing ideas, researching a story, employing a variety of methodologies, targeting the audience/market/readers, structuring news and feature articles, effective introductions and endings, headlines, using the 5 ‘Ws’, the ‘advertorial’ and personality profiles.

• Introduction to Media Communications

  This module introduces students to different theories on media culture. It addresses the different skills that are required for interpreting mediated information in various forms, whether written, pictorial or audio-visual. It also introduces key debates that have occupied the analysis of media culture in recent decades. Students are required to read and understand some of the foundational writing in the study of media culture and to appreciate the main ways in which it has been theorised. They are expected to begin applying these theoretical models to specific examples of mediated communication.

• Journalism, Law and Ethics

  In this module, students will be introduced to key laws impacting on journalists in the UK including defamation, copyright and Freedom of Information. They will also explore the Human Rights Act as it affects UK journalists and compare UK defamation with US defamation. Students will also investigate the ethical dilemmas that may impact on journalists in any Western liberal democracy and look at the codes of conduct that have been put in place to encourage ethical behaviour.

• Media and Society

  This module considers the relationship between media institutions or products and their social context. Particular attention will be paid to the degree to which the media reflect or shape social attitudes. Through discussions of issues such as class, race and gender this module will consider how different social groups are represented in media institutions and by mediated images. This module will also examine the public role of the media and students will be asked to think analytically about concepts such as free press, media impartiality or bias, and the relationship of the media with commercial and political institutions.

Optional

Year 2

Core Modules

• Managing People

  Managing People aims at providing students with an introduction to the management of people in organisations. Content includes: - The development of HRM, theory and practice, contextual factors, strategic approaches. - Recruitment and selection - role of R&S, models of R&S and their application. - Equality and diversity - the case for equality and diversity. Approaches to implementing equality and diversity policies and tackling discrimination in organisations. - Flexibility - managing flexibility. - Performance and reward management - managing people for performance, motivation and the link with reward management. - Employee participation and involvement - definition of terms. Factors affecting the success of employee involvement (EI). Effective communication. - Learning and development - contribution it can make to people performance and business success from identifying needs to evaluation of the outcomes. Managing people activities will be introduced from both strategic and operational perspectives. The role of the HR function and the line manager will be introduced.

• Exploring Business Ethics

  The module provides a contemporary, applied and critical approach to the study of ethics as applied to business and management. It examines the behaviour within organisations and the individual choices that employees may make when faced with ethical dilemmas. Content includes: - Different philosophical approaches to ethics and as to what is considered ethical - The importance of ethics in business - Corporate social responsibility, and arguments for and against CSR - Ethical issues in different areas of management, for example human resources, marketing, accounting - Ethical issues in the marketing of products and services

• Media in an International Context

  This module allows students to make a series of international comparisons with the media in England. It provides a series of case studies explaining how media institutions are distributed in a chosen country and indicating how this is linked to a specific history of media development and to the different political structures in the country being studied. This module places an emphasis on the relationships between media institutions or products and the socio-political construction of their different audiences.

• Journalism Skills: Print News, Markets and Styles

  In this module students will be introduced to researching and reporting techniques for news reports and will be developing and extending the skills in writing print news acquired at Level One. Workshop sessions will enable students to gain hands-on practice in writing news reports in a simulated newsroom environment. There will be an emphasis on the use of ICT to research stories and students will be encouraged to use the Associate Press feed and ICT-based information management techniques, including databases and e-journals, such as Infotrack and the British Journalism Review. Students will to write copy and produce a portfolio through which they explore in greater depth the key written and visual ingredients of news journalism.

• Journalism Skills: Features, Markets and Styles

  In this module students will be introduced to researching and reporting techniques for writing features and will be developing and extending the skills in writing acquired at Level 4. Workshop sessions will be enable students to gain hands-on practise of writing features in a simulated magazine or supplement environment.

• Research Methods

  This module teaches you the basic principles of research in media and the means by which to devise research questions and select appropriate methodologies, as well as instruction on how to write a research report. Students will learn how to choose a research topic, conduct a literature review, and develop an appropriate research plan. It covers all the key aspects of media and communication, including analysis of media production, media texts, and audience studies. It further offers specific guidance and instruction on a systematic application of a range of research methods, and addresses methods of sampling and data collection, including interviews, questionnaires and focus group discussions, as well as approaches to online research.

Optional

• Human Computer Interaction for Commercial Applications

  This module draws upon a range of disciplines to enable students to critically evaluate a consumer device of their choice that exhibits a 'poor' user interface and design a more suitable user interface for a specific group of users. An indicative list of topics are: User Centric Design: - Gathering user requirement - tools and techniques - Identifying and targeting users groups and personas - Identifying user needs - User activities: goals, tasks and actions - Human-action cycle, designer-user-system (Norman and Draper) model Scenario and case diagrams Task allocation between human and computer Cognitive walkthrough Work re-engineering: - Conceptual design: 'container', 'container network' and 'content' diagrams Design components: - Hardware (input and output devices) - Environment - Text, pictures, animation, sound and other senses - Colours, fonts, size, unused space, lines and boxes - Gestalt psychology Metaphors and interaction styles for user interfaces Design principles, design rules, style guides, design heuristics, International Standards (ISO)

• Project Planning and Control

  Project management is essential in all business development and this module gives students hands-on experience of managing the project process. Typical contents include: - An introduction to project management - Project initiation and planning - Working in project teams - Risk identification, analysis and planning - Quality in projects - Project monitoring, evaluation and control - time, cost and quality/performance - earned value - managing changes to the project - project closure and evaluation The module provides a sound basis for further professional studies such as the Association for Project Management (APM) Introductory Certificate in Project Management.

• Principles of Operations Management

  The module is designed to provide a solid understanding of operations management methods. Students will gain experience together with knowledge of techniques and tools to support decisions made within the context of operations. It is likely that athere will be an opportunity to work with an external organisation during the group coursework.

• Marketing for the Small Enterprise

  This module explores the issues of marketing and marketing research in the context of dynamic and complex small business environments. It will therefore introduce and examine a wide range of issues including: opportunity recognition and marketing research, new product development (NPD), pricing, promotion, networking and word of mouth, relationship and services marketing, sales and selling, and distribution.

• Marketing Planning

  This module will introduce students to the underlying philosophy of marketing planning and the significance of the planning phase in order to give an overall perspective of what planning aims to achieve. It will introduce a range of tools and techniques for use when developing marketing plans and test students' ability to synthesise and apply these.

• Management Accounting for Business Decisions

  The module is aimed at prospective managers to enable them to understand the benefits and potential pitfalls of using management accounting information when making managerial decisions. Indicative areas covered are: - Description and analysis of management accounting and reporting. - Traditional and modern methods of costing including the treatment of overheads, and the role of such information in driving pricing, mix and investment decisions. - The role, design and implementation of budgetary planning and control systems. - Variance analysis. - Alternative methods of investment appraisal and an assessment of the merits and problems of each. - How to interpret the information generated in order to provide decision-making advice to management.

• Business Analysis Tools

  The module will introduce students to a variety of business analysis techniques. Students will be guided into formulating business problems as models. These models will enable them to solve problems in an organisational context. Students will be introduced and encouraged to use appropriate software to solve the models (eg spreadsheets and specialist business analysis software). The main topics studied include: - Business analysis methodology - Project management - Scheduling and sequencing in business - Forecasting methods - Introduction to business simulation - Linear programming and business optimisation - Inventory models - Markov analysis

• Cross-cultural Management

  The module provides a contemporary, applied and critical approach to the study of cross-cultural management in an organisational context. It is particularly relevant to students of International Business and Human Resources, but should also be of interest to any student wishing to pursue a career in international business or involved in working within multi-cultural environments. Content includes: - the examination of cross cultural management theorists (including Hofstede and Trompenaars) - a critical perspective; - cross-cultural aspects of leadership and motivation; - ethnocentrism in management theory; - cross-cultural communications: the effect of language and cultural factors on negotiating and communication styles; - multi-cultural team working: collaboration and cooperation across national/cultural boundaries; - cross-cultural management and human resource management practices; - managing international assignments, the expatriate manager.

Year 3

Core Modules

Optional

• Industrial Placement Year

• Placement Study Abroad (South East Asia)

• Placement Study Abroad (North America)

• Placement Study Abroad (Australia)

• Placement Study Abroad (Europe)

• Year Abroad

  A Study Abroad year is an optional additional year that increases the length of the Honours degree award to a four-year full-time degree. The additional year comprises an agreed programme of study in a partner institution abroad with whom the University of Hertfordshire has an institutional agreement. The programme of study will support, supplement and extend the more usual three-year programme. Success in the third year will be recognised in the title of the award, but does not carry additional credit towards the Honours programme. A student would normally confirm the intention to study abroad during the first ten weeks of study at Level 2. This will enable a place to be negotiated at a host institution and the Study Programme and learning contract to be arranged and agreed.

Year 4

Core Modules

• Leadership and Organisations

  This module explores leadership and management within the context of the business organisation. It examines the development of leadership and management theory as well as discussing contemporary applications of theoretical approaches. Leadership styles and models are analysed, including their impact on follower performance. Key concepts of organisational behaviour, including motivation, structure, group dynamics, culture power and conflict, are explored and their impact on leadership and management examined. The content of the module may include: 1. Early management theory and its relevance today 2. The main approaches to leadership theory 3. The changing role of the leader - alternative approaches 4. Motivation theories and their relationship to leadership and developing individuals 5. The work/life balance 6. Leadership and group behaviour 7. Organisational structures and culture 8. The main bases of power and organisational power relationships 9. Resistance and conflict in organisations 10. Management and leadership in differing organisational contexts

• Business Strategy

  The module will focus on the many conflicting perspectives within the subject of business strategy and consider the problems involved in researching and developing strategies and plans and implementing them within the limitations of the organisation. It considers a range of analytical techniques and concepts, both applying them and critically evaluating their usefulness through the use of case study work. The module includes a comprehensive review of current strategic issues, identifying the contradictions and paradoxical nature of strategic decision-making and strategic planning.

Optional

• International Human Resource Management

  The module provides contemporary, applied and critical insights into the management of people across borders and in multinational corporations (MNCs). The HR implications of managing international assignments are investigated, and in-depth exposition provided of HR contexts and features in major global regions. Whilst having particular appeal to students specialising in HRM and international business, the module is relevant to all those working or planning to work in an international environment. Content includes: - Analysis of differences between national and international HRM. - Cultural and Institutional explanations for international variations in HRM contexts and practices. - Examining the structures and strategies of MNCs, ethical issues impinging upon international business in the field of employment. - Managing the expatriation cycle-recruitment, training, pay, performance management and repatriation. Theories of expatriate adjustment and equal opportunities in international staffing. - Analysis of industrial relations structures/systems for employee participation in the US, Europe and Japan. - Exploration of political/economic environments and major features of HR/employment practice in the Americas, Europe, East Asia and developing countries. - Critical evaluation of convergence and divergence debates.

• Understanding Challenges in the Third Sector

  The module will provide a broad understanding of the nature of the third sector and its contribution to the community. The third sector includes the voluntary sector, community groups, and social enterprises. This module will enable students to develop their appreciation of the challenges of working and managing in the third sector, through a combination of lectures, student-led seminars and a period of approved voluntary work which will start early in the semester of study. By reflecting on their voluntary work, the students will be able to synthesise and critically evaluate theoretical concepts.

• Taxation for Non-Specialists

  This module provides an opportunity for students to obtain a broad awareness of the theoretical and practical influences on UK taxation and the opportunity to calculate basic UK tax liabilities. The module starts by examining the UK taxation environment: framework of UK taxation, principles of tax system design and the impacts of the UK tax system before considering individual taxes: income tax, capital taxes, corporation tax, VAT and other indirect taxes.

• Social Networking and Enterprise

  Social networking is a rapidly growing phenomenon and it is one of the most influential media in web technology today. Hundreds of companies globally use social media to gain credibility, foster employee relationships, build a forum for communication with customers and, often, to boost sales. Businesses receive inquiries directly from consumers and other businesses without advertising, which results in lower costs and higher conversion rates. Therefore, this module explores insights of the social networking sites and opportunities they present for organisations. The following is an indicative list of topics: - Understand the fundamentals of the social media - Social networking trends - Types of social networking sites - Enhance enterprise performance through social media - Social networking tools and strategies in enterprise - Business communication using online media tools - Social networking tools for different business processes - Market trends of the social media and tools to estimate future business performance

• Small Business Management

• Service Operations Management

• Management Science in Business

  This module will develop knowledge and understanding of both classical and current management science techniques used in business today. Students will be guided into formulating business problems as models. They will be shown how to manipulate and solve these models, and interpret the solutions. They will learn to recognise difficulties and limitations associated with the results given by the models. Students will be encouraged to use appropriate computer software to solve the models. The module includes the following topics: - queuing models - game theory - replacement theory - decision analysis - dynamic programming - transportation problems - data envelopment analysis - data mining

• Contemporary Issues in Business and Management

  This module will bring together a range of current research on contemporary strategic issues in business and management and enable students to consolidate their understanding of these issues, whilst giving them the skills and opportunity to examine and evaluate alternative valid views. Students will be asked to use their research skills to develop an in-depth understanding of these contemporary issues while being encouraged to examine and question the legitimacy of alternative approaches to management and to evaluate the impact, if any, of these issues on a business' strategic development. Students are expected to draw on the whole range of knowledge and skills developed during their studies when reviewing research literature and evaluating business and management responses to contemporary issues.

• Advertising

  This module will look at advertising and the ways in which they attempt to construct desire for specific products. It will analyse the social function of adverts in relation to certain social categories such as gender, race and sexuality. It will also look at the placing of advertising in specific media locations, asking students to consider why adverts for certain types of products are placed in specific locations. This will include a consideration of market segmentation and television scheduling in an attempt to link certain products to specific demographic patterns. This module will also consider the relationship between advertising and other media forms, especially film and television, to consider the degree to which advertising relies upon codes that are produced in other cultural products. This module will include a consideration of the use of advertising in the new media.

• Journalism, Government and the People

  This module explores the relationship between the press and the government. It will cover the structure and operation of government to include the principles of democracy, parliament and constitution. In addition, the module will cover such topics as: the role of the lobby correspondent; the reporting of parliament; parliamentary and European elections and the influence of journalists on government policy.

• Digital Media

  This module closely looks at emergent forms of media, particularly the influence of digital technologies on traditional forms of media, such as film and journalism. We will critically analyse the impact of the digital revolution, from HDTV to virtual realities, from citizen journalism to wikileaks and cyber-criminality, from music downloads to E-books. Using a range of critical theorists, we will discuss the challenges of these developments for old media as well as the creative opportunities new media forms provide.

• Online Journalism

  The course will consist of 12, two-hour seminars in which students will - through a mix of lectures, demonstrations, discussion and practical tasks - learn the basics of Online Journalism. This will include an appreciation of the massive impact that new digital communications technologies have had on the publishing industry, as well as a detailed understanding of how writing for the internet differs from so-called ‘off-line’ Journalism. Students will also learn, through the use of a Content Management System (CMS), how to upload and format content – both written and multimedia – which is suitable for publication.

• Journalism Portfolio

  This module gives you a taste of the real-life world of journalism through working for a variety of different publications, mediums and in different environments. You will be encouraged to apply for and take part in relevant journalism-related work experience for a minimum of ten days or equivalent. You will produce reflective assignments documenting the experience of applying for and working in the relevant field and focusing on what they have learnt. You will also put together a varied portfolio of articles which you will have researched and written under your tutor’s guidance. These will be for a range of publications including newspapers, magazines and websites.

• Campaigns and Careers

  The structure of the module reflects the diversity of the areas covered within the course. It works particularly well with the Corporate Communications module that runs in semester A, but can be taken on its own as well. This module introduces students to the variety of options available within the communications industry and illustrates the value of communication skills across a range of different sectors. The emphasis on the module is to take a hands-on approach that allows students to engage with the academic content in a very practical manner. In addition, the module will also transmit general skills such as team working, interview techniques and CV writing, which are important f or getting a job in the media and beyond. During the course we will be looking at the media industries in general, the challenges faced but also the variety of opportunities available to Communications professionals. We will explore specialist areas of professional communications, for example Political PR and Campaigning f or charities and NGOs, as well as embarking on a range of sessions on versatile knowledge, which could include some or all of the following topics: Pitching & Public Speaking, the Teamworking, Handling Media, CVs and interview skills. In addition, students will get the opportunity to apply the skills by presenting their own projects and learn how to promote themselves successfully

• Corporate Communications

  This module provides a broad understanding of the principles, techniques and strategies that underpin corporate communications, with particular emphasis on Public Relations and brand management. It is designed to reflect the current awareness of, and the benefits that organisations can derive from, adopting an integrated approach to communications. This module adopts a strategic approach to the study of corporate communications and builds an understanding of the variations in consumer behaviour, and how communication strategies and programmes can be developed, organised and implemented. The course also addresses critical issues relating to recent developments in the field.

Fees & funding

Fees 2013

UK/EU Students

Full time: £8,500 for the 2013 academic year

International Students

Full time: £9,500 for the 2013 academic year

Discounts are available for International students if payment is made in full at registration

View detailed information about tuition fees

Scholarships

• National Scholarship Programme

Find out more about scholarships for UK/EU and international students

Other financial support

Find out more about other financial support available to UK and EU students

Living costs / accommodation

The University of Hertfordshire offers a great choice of student accommodation, on campus or nearby in the local area, to suit every student budget.

View detailed information about our accommodation

How to apply